There were hundreds of girls present in the garden out the mansion, some escorted by their grandfathers and some alone. The guards were having a tough time managing them. When Cora saw the chaos, she went to the guards and instructed them how to put everyone on order. Within the next few minutes, all the girls and men were chased out of the gates. They were all asked to form a line and one by one each of them were called. Cora had decided to interview all of them.
When the first one came, even Dmitri was there. He was looking at her eagerly. She looked at him and blushed. Cora narrowed her eyes and asked her, "Do you remember where you were found?"
"Yes, I was found in the foothills of the mountains deep inside the jungle. Your father rescued me and brought me to my Grandfather, Ed." She said pointing at and old man. Then she looked at Dmitri and said with a deeper blush, "Your father had pledged your hand in mine. You should honor his words and marry me. Your current luna can be given a compensation."
Cora quickly became agitated and clenched her jaws as Dmitri watched her in astonishment. "Get out!" snarled Cora.
"Why? I am not saying anything wrong!" the girl lamented and tried to stay longer but the guards carried her all the way past the front gates and threw her out. Her old grandfather walked behind her and asked, "Have we got the reward?" She just scoffed and stomped away from him.
When the second one came, she suggested that she be given only one territory as compensation. The third one was even more interesting. She asked Dmitri to make a harem in order to include her and so she stayed with him always. She said she didn't mind Adrianna's presence.
It was almost afternoon and not even half the girls' interviews were finished. Dmitri became extremely impatient. Time and again he would curse Liam who would look at him stupidly.
---
Ever since Ed had heard about the third stage of the competition, he had become anxious. His little grandchild had to face the toughest test of the stage. Even though he was ordered by Isidorus to stay safe at the inn hidden in the mountains, he was getting impatient to meet her. One day when Howard visited him casually during a weekend, he said over dinner, "Howard, I want to be with Adri during the third stage of the competition."
Howard looked at him with surprise. "But you said that you didn't want to go anywhere and that is why you wanted to spend time in retirement in this mountainous region."
"I know Howard, but everyday I think about it, every minute I miss her more," replied Ed looking so upset as though he would cry.
"Okay, then what about this inn?" asked Howard.
"I will take care of the inn," came a voice from behind. It was Mun who spoke, much to Howard's shock. "I will take care of this inn," repeated Mun rolling his eyes at Howard's flabbergasted facial expression.
Howard looked at Ed with wide eyes and he chuckled while nodding, "Yes, he speaks."
"By the way, tell Adrianna that I would have loved her had she belonged to my species," continued Mun as he nibbled on the meat piece in front of him.
Ed laughed heartily as Howard shook his head. What the hell did he just hear?
"The competition would take place from next week onwards. I will come to take you from here," replied Howard as he joined in the laughter.
---
Cora continued to take interviews and realized that almost all the girls she had interviewed were so pretentious that it appalled her. In comparison, Adrianna was very simple. That girl didn't even boast about her powers to the world. All these girls were almost nothing in front of her, and yet the amount of fluff they had in her was simply appalling .
Half of them were wearing lewd clothes that were half revealing their b.r.e.a.s.ts. Very few were decently dressed but they were all too cunning. On the contrary, Adrianna was always wearing simple clothes like a pair of jeans and usually checkered shirts. Cora smiled when she started to compare the girls in front of her and her daughter-in-law Adrianna.
In the end when it was evening, Dmitri left the place, as he was so angry that he couldn't stand anyone of them. He walked to the royal palace through the portal. The portal opened in the bedroom. It was evening 7PM and Adrianna was nowhere to be seen. He haphazardly ran outside in a panicked frenzy only to find that Mihr was presently teaching her more spells.
"Adrianna, you need to concentrate a lot when you are trying to hypnotize a person," shouted Mihr. He had been trying to teach her the hypnosis spell in which all nearby creatures would get fascinated and they would stop in their activities and stare blankly. They would do whatever you would suggest them. However, it would affect only people who could see you or were close enough to hear you. This was one of the most common spells the wizards knew and threw at their opponents. Mihr was trying to teach her the spell and also how to dodge it.
Feeling irritated, Adrianna pointed her wand and shouted, "Hypnosia!" a white light came out of her wand and hit both Mihr and Dmitri.